Collett & Sons has moved the giant Sarens SGC 250 ring crane to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant site in Somerset.
Christened Big Carl at Sarens’ manufacturing facility in Ghent during November 2018, the SGC 250 will play in a key role in constructing the nuclear power plant; approximately 600 heavy components, including five major parts of the plant’s steel containment dome, will be placed using the crane.
The heavy lift crane, which boasts a maximum lifting moment of 250,000 tonne/metres, was divided into modules and shipped to Avonmouth Dock earlier this year.
Collett was awarded the contract to handle all vessel discharge procedures, heavy lift services and heavy transport operations to deliver modules to the project site. Using port cranes, mobile cranes and seven specialist vehicles, each component was offloaded and moved to a laydown area at the port.
Each unit had a designated storage plot, which Collett said allowed “ease of access” and ensured the units were delivered in line with the construction schedule.
With a cumulative weight of over 3,000 tonnes, Collett began transporting each of the crane components during April, with each module required at the site according to pre-arranged dates and time slots.
The entire crane was delivered to the project site over the course of 400 deliveries, said Collett.
